CLYDE — Homecoming is always a big game on the schedule. This year, the opponent added a little something more to the game, as it became a showdown between two of the teams with the best record in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Coming into the game, the Redskins were hoping to continue their dramatic turnaround. Prior to last season’s impressive playoff run, Port Clinton lost 19 straight games.
Earlier in this season though, Port Clinton handed Perkins its only loss of the season, and it was looking to do the same against the Fliers.
It didn’t happen.
The Fliers were up to the task of handling the Redskins’ high-powered offense, winning by a score of 37-21.
“I thought we played well against Port Clinton,” Clyde coach Ryan Carter said.. “We really ran the ball well and I was very pleased with our offensive line and running backs. The defense played very well versus a very high powered offense that Port Clinton had.”
Both teams came into the game with identical 6-1 records. The Fliers knew they needed to step up their game in order to get the win.
On the Redskins’ second possession of the game, they made it look easy as they marched down the field on just six plays. The drive was capped off with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Joey Brenner to Nathan Stubblefield.
Port Clinton wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter, though.
Clyde answered three minutes later when Frank Sewell ran in for a touchdown from five yards out, to tie the game at seven with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
The Fliers were unable to get much going with their passing game throughout the night, as Nicely completed just 4 of his 13 attempts with an interception.
With the passing game struggling, the Fliers turned to their ground game, with was fueled by Sewell’s 124 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns.
Sewell found his way into the end zone for the second time halfway through the second quarter when he rumbled in for a four-yard TD run to give Clyde its first lead of the game.
After a penalty on the PAT attempt, the Fliers decided to go for the two-point conversion, which Sewell converted with another run into the end zone.
The Redskins grabbed a bit of momentum when Nicely was intercepted with around three minutes left in the half. However, Joe Bair stripped the ball away from Port Clinton’s Sklyer Cook and ran 78 yards for another Fliers touchdown with just 12 seconds left in the half.
Another two-point conversion pushed the Clyde lead to 23-7 at the half.
Bair didn’t have much time to think as he ran to the end zone, and said he couldn’t have done it without Jake Jenne wrapping Cook up on the play.
“It all happened so fast,” Bair said. “I really didn’t have much time to think until I got in the end zone. I just couldn’t believe it happened like that. I couldn’t have done it without the help of Jenne wrapping him up.”
The Redskins attempted to rally in the fourth quarter by scoring two touchdowns, the Fliers added two of their own to put the game away.
Bailey Colson ran for a 15-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Jenne added one of his own with 13-yard run that included him diving to the pylon and barely staying in bounds.
In addition to Sewell’s running, Bailey Colson ran for 63 yards on nine carries and averaged seven yards a carry.
The Fliers ran for 331 total yards on the ground and finished with 384 total yards of offense.
Port Clinton had 353 yards of total offense, but the Fliers defense was able to keep the Redskins out of the end zone much of the night.
Next up for the Flier is Huron, a team which Clyde has had a number of memorable games against.
Last season, the Tigers and Fliers battled into double overtime, where Huron finally won, 7-6. In 2005, the two teams went to triple overtime.
The Tigers may not be having their best season with a record of 2-6, but don’t think the Fliers (7-1) will overlook them.
“It’s another SBC team,” Bair said, “and they are a good team, so we all got to play to our best capability.”
Even though Huron has lost more games than won, the scores have been very close as Carter is well aware, but the team is hungry to win the SBC.
“Huron has been very close all of their games,” Carter said. “They have a very good quarterback that runs the ball very well. They will be ready to play, they always are. We have a chance to win our league so our kids will be excited and ready.”
The Fliers will travel to Huron on Friday at 7 p.m.
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